This invention relates to a device for releasing active ingredient, which device is insertable in the liquid flow line of a system for the parenteral application of the ingredient, and comprise a receptacle having an inlet and an outlet for a liquid flow passing therethrough, and ingredient-releasing means, lodged in the receptacle, for releasing active ingredient into the said liquid flow.
The intravenous adminstration of liquids such as blood, blood substitute and other infusion solutions is an important aspect of the medical treatment of patients. In many cases, simultaneously or together with the infusion solution, another medicament is administered intravenously, in a number of different systems existing for this purpose. For instance, in a system of this type described in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 289,082, now abandoned 310,047, 312,491, and 325, 206, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,432,756 issued Feb. 21, 1984, published together in DE-OS 32 28 595, there is inserted, in the infusion flow line or a bypass thereof, a receptacle containing the active ingredient to be administered in a specially adapted formulation (osmosis system) guaranteeing a release of active ingredient into the infusion solution during a prolonged period of time. A drawback of this system consists primarily in that the active ingredient must always be present in a special formulation and that, in particular, the insertion of the receptacle in the infusion flow line is relatively complicated, especially when it is to be made in a bypass line. A further drawback of the known system resides in the fact that it is relatively difficult to remove from the receptacle any air that may be present therein.